The field of the invention is lighting fixtures and the invention relates more specifically to lighting fixtures which are useful in prision cell and other institutions and applications where vandal resistance is very important.
In the past, maximum security lighting has been provided merely by covering a conventional flourescent or incandescent lighting source with an impact resistant diffuser made from a material such as an injection molded polycarbonate. Such fixtures were typically either installed in a housing attached with vandal resistant screws and placed on the ceiling or at the corner of the ceiling and a wall of the room or cell and when the light bulb burned out or the fixture otherwise needed servicing, it had to be serviced from within the cell. With such prior art light fixtures, destruction by inmates is possible. Furthermore, inmates can remove the screws and have access to the interior of the light assembly which can even provide a means for inmates to commit suicide. There is thus a need for a more secure lighting assembly than is presently available.
The steps required to provide maintenance service in a prison cell are labor intensive. First, it must be understood that prison guards or security personnel are not permitted to do service or maintenance work. Furthermore, maintenance personnel are not trained or equipped to guard prisoners. Still further, tools which are required to perform maintenance are potentially capable of being used as weapons and it thus becomes necessary for the maintenance personnel to be kept separated from the prisoners. Therefore, even for a simple maintenance task, it is necessary to first remove the prisoner or prisoners from the cell. Secondly, the maintenance man, accompanied by a security man enter the cell. A second security man may also be required to escort the maintenance man to the cell door. It can thus be seen that a task as ostensibly simple as changing a light bulb becomes a disruptive and labor intensive task if it must be done from within the cell. Furthermore, the prior art diffusers even though resistant to impact were not completely immune thereto and such fixtures were frequently destroyed by vandalism.
The American Correctional Association has established standards for adult correctional institutions and the present standard relating to lighting is contained in Sections 2-4130 through 2-4135 in the second edition published Jan. 19, 1981. This standard requires that a lighting source be provided at least twenty foot candles in intensity at desk level and in the personal grooming area. In many installations, a night light is also utilized and in the past this too has been the object of vandalism.